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PERMERICA NEWS -
2006 ARCHIVE ...
VA
Health Facilities, National Cemeteries Open Tuesday Jan. 2 for Day of Mourning.
Other
VA Facilities Will Close Jan. 2 to Observe President Ford’s Passing-
pressrelease
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A
PERFECT STORM: EXCESSIVE WHITE HOUSE
DELAY CREATES MAJOR HEADACHES FOR MANY FEDERAL AGENCIES: GERALD
FORD DIED AT 6:45 P.M. (pst) ON TUESDAY DEC 26TH. RATHER THAN
DECLARING A NATIONAL DELAY OF MOURNING ON WEDNESDAY (12-27), THE WHITE
HOUSE WAITED UNTIL LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON (12-28). THIS EXCESSIVE
DELAY, FORCED MANY FEDERAL AGENCIES TO SCRAMBLE, ON FRIDAY, TO PROVIDE
GUIDANCE TO EMPLOYEES. The Perfect Storm occurs because (1.)
Excessive White House Delay, (2.), Three holidays in one pay period.
(3.) Many employees off work on Friday 12-29 and scheduled
to return to duty on Tuesday, Jan 2nd. (4.) Many employees
scheduled for leave on Tuesday, Jan 2nd. (5.) Tuesday, Jan
2nd is the scheduled InLieu Of Day Off for many employees on Compressed
Work Schedules. (6.) Agencies scrambling to provide guidance.
A REAL PERFECT STORM!
PRESIDENT
BUSH DESIGNATES TUESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2007, AS A NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING:
By Executive Order of President George W. Bush, all executive departments,
independent organizations and other agencies of the Federal government
shall be closed on Tuesday, January 2, 2007, as a mark of respect
for Gerald R. Ford, the 38th President of the United States.
U.S. Office
of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Linda M. Springer notified Cabinet
Secretaries, Agency Heads and Chief Human Capital Officers governmentwide
about the closure shortly after President Bush signed the Executive Order
on December 28, 2006. Springer provided agency leaders with a copy of the
President's proclamation, which designates Tuesday, January 2, 2007, as
a National Day of Mourning.
The closure order
includes Federal offices,with
the exception of those offices and installations, or parts thereof,
in the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the Department of
Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, or other departments, independent
organizations, and governmental agencies whose agency head determines should
remain open for reasons of national security or defense, or other essential
public busines. More
(OPM) - Executive
Order - OPM
GUIDANCE
OPM GUIDANCE
FOR PRES. FORD DAY OF MOURNING (1-2-07):
For pay and leave purposes,
this period of time will be treated as falling within the scope of statutes
and Executive orders governing holidays.
Most employees who are
excused from duty as a result of the President's Executive order will receive
the basic pay they would have received if no Executive order had been issued.
An employee who was
previously scheduled to take annual leave on January 2, 2006, will not
be charged annual leave (or any other form of paid leave, compensatory
time off, or credit hours) for that day.
(This policy does
not apply to employees who receive annual premium pay for standby duty
under
5
U.S.C. 5545(c)(1) or to firefighters who are covered by the special
pay provisions of 5
U.S.C. 5545b) - OPM
GUIDANCE
President
and Mrs. Bush Saddened by Death of James Brown:more
January 2007
Pay Adjustments: GS, SES, etc. OPM
NEWS
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UNSAFE
HARBOR
- DID DC CIRCUIT ISSUE A BIASED OPINION?:
NORMALLY:
an employee is protected by SafeHarbor if he/she (1) voluntarily identifies
him/herself as a user of illegal drugs prior to being identified through
other means; (2) obtains counseling or rehabilitation through an EAP, and
(3) thereafter refrains from illegal use of drugs. IN
THIS CASE: The employee signed up for rehabilitation AFTER (not
before) he tested positive for marijuana during a random drug test.
The agency removed the employee. The court objects. You
Read. You Decide. AFGE#2924
v. FLRA
INDEFINITE
SUSPENSION (Good Read): An indefinite suspension is valid where:
(1) There is reasonable cause to believe that the employee committed a
crime for which a sentence of imprisonment may be imposed; (2) the suspension
has an ascertainable end; (3) there is a nexus between the criminal charge
and the efficiency of the service; and (4) the penalty is reasonable. decision
- case
summaries
DEAR MSPB
JUDGE, I WAS JUST A LITTLE LATE:
My MSPB appeal was only one day late, so can you pretend like you received
it on time? DEAR APPELLANT, you can't be a little pregnant
or a little late. decision
PROSPECTIVE
WAIVERS OF APPEAL RIGHTS: MSPB
shoots down the practice of having employees sign Routine Prospective Waivers
of Appeal Rights as a condition of employment. The agency required
the preference eligible to sign a SOU, when hired, waiving his appeal rights.
MSPB determined that the SOU was not worth the paper it was written on.
Prospective Waivers may be valid in certain circumstances, such as disciplinary
and other settlement matters, where it is clear that the employee received
a material benefit for the waiver. Note The Discussion
on Waiving EEO Rights in Barbara Sapin's concurring opinion. decision
- summaries
RUINATION
OF AMERICAN FAMILY IMAGE:
Thanks
to Ricky Bobby, Movie Goers World-Wide think this is typical American behavior.
Kids recite scene verbatim.
AGENCY GUILTY OF CONSTRUCTIVE REMOVAL:
He tried to revoke his retirement
buyout application 30 days prior to the effective date. The agency
denied his request and processed his retirement on the date specified on
the buyout application. MSPB ORDER: We ORDER the agency to
cancel the involuntary retirement which is tantamount to a removal and
to retroactively restore appellant effective September 30, 2004. We
also ORDER the agency to pay the appellant ... back pay, interest on back
pay, and other benefits under the Back Pay Act ... as appropriate.
decision
- case
summaries
MSPB: A CANDIDATE IS NOT ENTITLED TO VETERAN'S
PREFERENCE WHEN BEING CONSIDERED UNDER MERIT
PROMOTION PROCEDURES: He
applied for a position posted under a merit promotion announcement.
He was placed on the Best Qualified list in alpha order. He was not
selected - A non-preference eligible was selected. He claimed that
he should have been selected based on veteran's preference. MSPB and OPM
disagreed.decision
- case
summaries
A MUST READ: AGENCY SAVED BY THE BELL
COURT - Removal Sustained despite the agency's faulty description,
faulty reasoning and faulty defense of the charged behavior. SURGICAL
DISSECTION/CONSTRUCTION: With The Skill of A Surgeon, the Fed Circuit
dissected the charge and evidence to Sustain the Removal Of Employee for
"Misuse of US Postal Service Funds" based on the employee's Failure To
Repay Government Issued Travel Credit Card In A Timely Manner After Reimbursement
Was Received. The agency found a misuse of $5,308 / The court found
a misuse of only $208 - but still sustained the removal. (Lots of
other goodies contained in this case) decision
SUPERVISOR REMOVED FOR FALSIFYING TIME & LEAVE RECORDS TO REWARD
SUBORDINATES FOR SPEEDY WORK. decision
- case
summaries
EMPLOYEE REMOVED FOR SKIPPING SCHEDULED TRAINING. BOARD SUSTAINS
REMOVAL. NO PRIOR DISCIPLINE. She
did not return supervisor's call during scheduled training period.
Her abuse of prescription drugs was not a Qualified Handicap. decision
- case
summaries
NLRB
issues three decisions on Who Is A Supervisor under
the National Labor Relations Act: more
1. Permanent Charge Nurses are considered
supervisors. Rotating Charge Nurses are not considered supervisors.
Oakwood
Healthcare Decision
YES, YOU WERE
AWOL - Not on a longish break.Towsend/Army
THIS IS WHY CONGRESS
WANTS TO REVAMP THE FEDERAL APPEALS SYSTEMS: A gross waste of
taxpayer money. more
FBI SPECIAL AGENT
REMOVED FOR SECRETLY VIDEOTAPING SEX -
One employee consented to videotaping sex. more
"MINIMALLY SUCCESSFUL"
PERFORMANCE OK - MSPB: Employee cannot be required maintain "fully
successful" performance to avoid removal. more
FAMILY CARE AND
BEREAVEMENT minimum leave requirement abolished. New regs remove
requirement to maintain a minimum sick leave balance. more
EEOC Staff Advisory
Letters: Written by EEOC staff members in response to inquires
from members of the public. The letters are informal discussions
of the issues and do not constitute official opinions of EEOC. SEE
"EEO-DIVERSITY"
PAGE
AFGE National
Elections: John Gage Wins Second Term as AFGE President;
J. David Cox Elected Secretary-Treasurer; Andrea Brooks reelected NVP,
Women's Continued
ATTENTION
HR SPECIALISTS - YOUR
ADVICE TO MANAGEMENT TO CANCEL A VACANCY RATHER THAN SELECT A PROBLEM EMPLOYEE,
MAY LEAD TO CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR ENGAGING IN A PROHIBITED PERSONNEL PRACTICE.In
a recent decision, the Federal Curcuit expanded the interpretation of "an
agency’s decision to take or fail to take a personnel action as defined
by 5 U.S.C. § 2302". See: RUGGIERI
v MSPB See:
5
U.S.C. § 2302 (PPP)
Theft of Cheesecake
Removal Sustained: The cheesecake truck driver gave free cheesecakes
to his mother, his friend then ate the rest. Driver referred to Weight
Watchers. CLICK (5) On The Tape Deck :-)
EEOC CHIEF to
step down August 31, 2006 . Continued
Employment of
People with Disabilities OPM issued new regs to improve
the Fed Govt's ability to hire and increase employment of persons with
certain disabilities. InfoPressRelFedReg
INSUBORDINATE
DEFIANCE OF AUTHORITY Another fancy new charge label. Continued
DUMP THE CHARGE
LABEL: CONSIDER USING NARRATIVE CHARGES INSTEAD: An agency is
not required to affix a label to a charge; it may simply describe actions
that constitute misbehavior in narrative form in its charge letter.
otero
V usps
CONTINUOUS SERVICE
IN SAME OR SIMILAR POSITIONS - This Case Deals With Preference Eligibles
and Credible Service towards Completion of the First Year Of the
Trial Period. Amend
v. DOJ
COURT UPHOLDS
OPM'S DENIAL OF NIXON'S DISABILITY RETIREMENT APPLICATION. Some
observers assumed that OPM and the courts would succumb to political pressure.
:-) Continued
REPEATED DISCOURTESY
TO A SUPERVISOR AND MORE - REMOVAL SUSTAINED: Continued
COURT DECISION:
COURT OVERRULES MSPB ON WHISTLEBLOWER RETALIATION CASE: Agency
cancellation of vacancy announcement to avoid hiring a qualified applicant
may be considered whistleblowing retaliation. Continued
BOARD SUSTAINS
REMOVAL FOR LATE INCOME TAX FILING: The appellant was found to
have violated subsection 1203(b)(9) of the IRS Restructuring and Reform
Act of 1998 (RRA). Continued
EEOC CONCERNED
ABOUT 10 YEAR DECLINE IN FEDERAL HIRING OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. Continued
" ONGOING MISCONDUCT
" A FANCY NEW CHARGE LABEL. QUESTION:
Was it 3 charges or 3 specifications? (Williams v Army) Continued
WOW! NEW
NIH HUMAN RESOURCES WEBSITE REDESIGN IS GREAT! The NIH Human
Resources Website has always been one of the best Federal HR websites on
the internet. Their policies and guidance always seem to be level
headed and on the mark. The new website design is crisp, clean, concise,
user friendly and intuitive. Continued
NEW OPM RECRUITMENT
VIDEOS: Highlight a few of the exciting careers available in
the Federal Government.
Continued
JUST RELAX -
Take
a minute and relax your mind. View this great slide show of the Conguillio
National Park Region of Chili. Composed by Marcela Manríquez.
The music is "Emily" by Stephane Grappelli and Martin Taylor.
Continued
SHE SAID
THEY FIRED ME BECAUSE THEY WERE JEALOUS 'CAUSE I HAVE A GREAT BODY, MORE
TEETH and a disability. THEY SAID they fired her because she gave
a finger to the security camera, covered the camera and hit it with a broom.
(Oates v. Chattanooga)
Continued
FMLA CERTIFICATION
WAS ONE DAY LATE...YOU'RE FIRED! The employee was directed to
submit medical certification within 15 days after receipt of the notice.
Employee submitted the medical documentation 16 days after receipt of the
notice. The court sustained his removal. (Frazier v. Honda)
Continued
Steven D. Dillingham
joined MSPB as Chief Counsel to the Vice Chairman. Former deputy
director of the National District Attorneys Association.
Continued
LEAVE RIGHTS
UNDER THE FMLA and ADA: THE INTERSECTION OF TWO LAWS IMPACTING EMPLOYEE
LEAVE: Continued
PHYSICIAN HID
DRUG POSSESSION PAST: The Sixt Circuit upholds DEAs
decision to revoke doctor's Certificate of Registration to Prescribe Controlled
Substances to doctor who materially falsified his applications for a certificate
of registration by failing to disclose his "nolo contendere" plea to misdemeanor
controlled substance violation. Continued
NEW EEOC FACT
SHEET ADDRESSES REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION FOR ATTORNEYS WITH DISABILITIES:
One goal of the fact sheet is to dispel the myth that attorneys with disabilities
who need reasonable accommodation are less competent or less productive
than attorneys without disabilities.
Continued
WHAT
YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION: Employers may
not treat employees or applicants more or less favorably because of their
religious beliefs or practices - except to the extent a religious accommodation
is warranted. For example, an employer may not ...
Continued
